Expansion rumors are going to circle the NHL until it actually expands — but nothing, according to commissioner Gary Bettman, is on the way.

In a wide-ranging, interesting interview with ESPN, Bettman downplayed a recent meeting with Seattle officials, saying that was more about taking advantage of being on the West Coast for playoff games and less because the league is looking to expand anywhere at the moment.

"We had a few hours to kill, we were in the neighborhood, so I figured I'd go to Seattle to find out what the building story was," Bettman said. "We weren't there campaigning, we weren't asking for anything and that's been misreported. Based on the level of interest we're getting from lots of people in Seattle and a fair amount of uncertainty and confusion about the building, we decided 'Let's go find out for ourselves what the story is with the building.' And there's no prospect of a building right now."

That's largely because the current arena deal hinges on billionaire Chris Hansen bringing an NBA team to town. That's not happening any time soon, and Hansen isn't interested in owning an NHL team.

Even if Seattle has interested NHL ownership groups — and it certainly may — it would have to work with Hansen on the arena lease, and Bettman said he doesn't seem prepared to build anything until he's got a basketball team.

"The sense I get is he doesn't want to build a building just to have a tenant," Bettman said. "And since he seems to have things tied up with the city for the next three years, give or take, there's no certainty about a building."

Quebec City, meanwhile, has a new arena, and Las Vegas has one on the way.

There's a lot more in the story about a World Cup of hockey, outdoor games and the future of the player safety department, among other things. It's worth your time.